Chad’s Morning Brief: New Texas Senate Rules, No Civil Rights Charges in Ferguson, and Other Top Stories

For almost 70 years in the Texas Senate, 21 votes have been required in order to bring legislation to the floor. That all changed yesterday when on a 20-10 vote, the Senate changed the 2/3rds rule to 3/5ths meaning that now only 19 votes are needed to move legislation to the floor. According to the Texas Tribune, this basically shuts out the Democrats.

Fighting to protect the rule, Democrats said the change would strike a blow to the democratic process.

“I think it’s a sad day for the Senate, and one that we will look back on with regret,” said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.

But Republicans argued that the rule allowed for too much abuse of procedure for political purposes.

State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, said while he had supported the rule in the past and he believed it had helped craft better policy, that the time had come to reform it.

“I don’t have to tell you how hard those special sessions we had two summers ago were for the Senate,” he said. “It was a tense time for all of us.”

All but 1 Democrat opposed the rule while State Senator Craig Estes of Wichita Falls voted present. Other Republicans like State Senator Charles Perry said the rule change was needed for conservative legislation.

This has been a goal of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's since 2007 and was something he campaigned on during the election. State Senator Charles Perry will join the show today at 9:35am.

No Civil Rights Charges

Remember all those protests in Ferguson after officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown? Remember how the administration got involved and Eric Holder wanted there to be a civil rights investigation which just poured fuel onto the fire? Well now according to the New York Times, the Justice Department can't find any evidence that Darren Wilson violated any civil rights.

Three law enforcement officials discussed the details of the federal investigation on condition of anonymity because the report was incomplete and Mr. Holder and his top civil rights prosecutor, Vanita Gupta, had not formally made a decision. Dena Iverson, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for Mr. Brown’s family, said he did not want to comment on the investigation until the Justice Department made an official announcement. “We’ve heard speculation on cases before that didn’t turn out to be true,” Mr. Crump said. “It’s too much to put the family through to respond to every rumor.” Mr. Crump said that at the end of last year that the Justice Department had told him that it was still investigating.

This will probably spark more protests from groups that don't fully grasp the concept of justice and from those that just want to burn stuff. The lesson here? Don't assault a cop and try to take their gun. You will die and that isn't a violation of your civil rights.

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard on our KFYO YouTube page after the show and online at kfyo.com.